Affirmations
In the context of Scott Adams’ philosophy, Affirmations are a focus-directed practice of writing down a specific goal 15 times a day in the present tense. While the practice is often associated with New Age “manifestation,” Adams approaches it through the lens of cognitive filtering and pattern recognition.
He credits this practice with a string of improbable successes, including becoming a famous cartoonist, overcoming a career-threatening speech impediment (spasmodic dysphonia), and achieving significant financial wealth.
The Practice
The technique is mechanical and straightforward:
- Define a specific goal. (e.g., “I, Scott Adams, will become a famous cartoonist.“)
- Write it 15 times a day.
- Use the present or future-certain tense.
- Do not worry about the “how.”
Adams frames this as a way to “manipulate your luck and you can manipulate your filters through focusing on something.” It is less about magic and more about the “vibration” of intent meeting the reality of opportunity.
Why It Works: The Cognitive Filter
Adams argues that the human brain is constantly bombarded with data, most of which is ignored. By repeating an affirmation, you are essentially “programming” your internal filters to notice opportunities that were previously invisible. As Adams puts it: “You can literally tune your mind to notice opportunities that were there all along but they weren’t programmed into your filter.”
This is rooted in the idea that “when you focus on things you’re more likely to achieve them.” By keeping a specific objective at the forefront of the mind, the individual begins to “treat the world like everything is available to him and he’s the author of the simulation.”
Visual Priming
Adams emphasizes that “our visual sense is our dominant mental process.” Affirmations work best when they trigger a mental image of the outcome. He notes that “it’s more powerful to have a vision of you in front of a group than it would be to have a concept.” The act of writing forces the brain to spend several minutes a day visualizing the desired reality, which primes the subconscious to act in accordance with that vision.
Mental Hygiene and The Void
Affirmations also serve as a defensive tool for mental health. Adams operates on the principle that the mind is never truly empty: “If you don’t fill your own mind it will get filled because you can’t not think.”
By intentionally filling the mind with productive, goal-oriented thoughts, one can crowd out intrusive or negative thoughts. This is a form of proactive “starving” of the ego’s darker impulses. Adams describes his approach to negative loops simply: “I would starve the bad thoughts until they faded in time.”
Connection to systems-vs-goals
While affirmations look like goals, they are best understood as a system. A goal is a specific objective you reach in the future; a system is something you do every day that increases your odds of success.
The 15-times-a-day ritual is a system because it:
- Reduces the friction of decision-making.
- Forces daily focus.
- Keeps the “talent stack” oriented toward a specific utility.
Conclusion
Adams is careful to state that he does not know for certain if affirmations have a supernatural component or if they are purely psychological. However, because the cost of the practice is near zero and the potential upside is infinite, he considers it a “rational” behavior. It is a tool for anyone who wants to take an active role in “authoring” their own experience within the simulation.